News

August 2011

IDA Assists Endo Building Ownership Change

The architecturally striking Endo Building in Garden City has undergone a change in ownership with the support of the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency. In one of the largest recent real estate transactions, the firm of Garden City 505 LLC acquired the Endo Building and an adjacent structure for more than $39 million.

"This deal preserved some 325 jobs within the complex and at the same time demonstrated the red hot real estate market in the Town of Hempstead," said Fred Parola, CEO and Executive Director of the IDA. The sale was made possible by the IDA decision to continue financial benefits originally awarded when the property was acquired by the previous owner, developer Joseph Farkas.

The iconic Endo Building, featuring castle-like turrets and winding exterior stairways, is a four story, 185,000 square foot structure which will continue to serve as headquarters for Lifetime Brands, a national distributor of kitchen products. Its address is 1000 Stewart Avenue, just west of Meadowbrook Parkway. To the rear is a two story, 25,000 square foot building which is currently leased to Nassau Community College. Together, the buildings occupy almost eight acres.

When Farkas put the complex up for sale, he said he received a significant number of bids. The response he got, Farkas said, showed a pent up demand for quality commercial buildings in the Town of Hempstead.

Farkas and his partners have acquired another building, a quarter mile west of the Endo Building, which will be the site of a BJs Wholesale Club and other commercial uses. Hofstra's $70,000,000 program will renovate existing facilities, upgrade and add additional equipment and refinance existing debt. The university expects to create about 40 new jobs as a consequence of the building program.

Adelphi has earmarked more than $24,000,000 to renovate, equip and furnish existing buildings on campus and to build a four-story, 55,000-square-foot dormitory building to house 171 students. Three full-time and four part-time positions will be created.

"This surging development, in the face of a prolonged down economy, demonstrates, once again, that the Town of Hempstead remains an excellent place to grow a business", Parola said.